Regional
Headquarters, Jamaica. Monday, August 19, 2019—After
its excellent 2018 debut in the
Times Higher Education (THE) Latin America University Rankings,
The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has climbed even higher
in the 2019 report published by the prestigious UK-based ranking
agency. The THE’s recently
published rankings for the Caribbean and Latin America show the
continued improvement of The UWI, as it placed 32nd
among the 150 best ranked universities across Latin America and the
Caribbean—compared to 37th
last year.

The UWI remains the
number 1 ranked university in the Caribbean. This
ranking is impressive given that the region has over 200 registered
universities. Furthermore, The UWI has improved its position within
the top 3% of universities in Latin America and the Caribbean. Again,
the ranking stands out within a network of over 2,000 registered
universities.

The strong showing
comes on the eve of the 2020 World
University Rankings due for
publication at the end of September 2019. The UWI’s performance
reflects the considerably improved hemispheric recognition of the
University’s research impact in multiple disciplines, the
development of strategic alliances with Latin American universities,
and the official recognition of its contribution to the development
agenda of the subregion.

Developments in
Mexico and Colombia, in particular, have seen The UWI’s visibility
mushroomed. Pointedly impactful was the collaboration between
Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles and the President of
the University of Miami, Professor Julio Frenk to constitute the
leadership vanguard of a visionary project to create a Hemispheric
University Consortium. The objective of the project is to connect
high performing universities in Latin America and the Caribbean in
order to rapidly expand student mobility and research collaboration
across the grouping to accelerate development.

In addition, the
newly created higher education organisation, Universities Caribbean,
a collaborative grouping of over 40 universities from Cuba, Curaçao
and Colombia to Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Costa Rica and Haiti to
Suriname, elected Vice-Chancellor Beckles as its first President.
These developments served to enhance The UWI’s academic reputation,
strategic partnering, and student preparation for the postmodern
world.

Responding to the
news of The UWI’s rise in the rankings, Vice-Chancellor Beckles
stated, “We have set out on a strategic mission to radically
transform and improve The UWI’s regional and international academic
standing as an excellent global university rooted in the Caribbean.
My colleagues are mobilised around this vision, and have worked very
hard and smart as a leadership team. I am very impressed with their
focus and commitment to serve The UWI and the people of the Caribbean
who are deserving of excellent outcomes. This rise in our ranking
reflects the efficient and effective effort of the entire UWI family
to be the best it can be.”

Notes

THE
Latin America University Rankings 2019 complete
list
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2019/latin-america-university-rankings#!/page/0/length/25/name/university%20of%20the%20west%20indies/sort_by/scores_citations/sort_order/asc/cols/undefined

About
Times Higher Education

The
Times
Higher Education
World University Rankings, founded in 2004, provide the definitive
list of the world's best universities, evaluated across teaching,
research, international outlook, reputation and more. THE’s
data are trusted by governments and universities and are a vital
resource for students, helping them choose where to study. The 2019
Times
Higher Education
Latin America University Rankings
rank the best 150 universities from 12 countries in region. They are
based on the same rigorous criteria as the THE
World
University Rankings, but with special modifications to better reflect
the characteristics of Latin America's universities, as outlined in
the methodology
here. It judges world-class universities employing 13 separate
performance indicators across all their core missions – teaching,
research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. For more, see
www.timeshighereducation.com

About
The UWI

For
over 70 years The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has
provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region and wider
world. The UWI has evolved from a university college of London in
Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948 to an internationally
respected, regional university with near 50,000 students and four
campuses: Mona
in Jamaica, St.
Augustine
in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave
Hill
in Barbados, and an Open Campus. As part of its robust globalization
agenda, The UWI has established partnering centres with universities
in North America, Latin America, Asia, and Africa including the State
University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and
Sustainable Development;
the Canada-Caribbean Studies Institute with Brock University; the
Strategic Alliance for Hemispheric Development with Universidad de
los Andes (UNIANDES); the UWI-China Institute of Information
Technology, the University of Lagos (UNILAG)-UWI Institute of African
and Diaspora Studies and the
Institute for Global African Affairs with the University of
Johannesburg (UJ).
The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and
postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering,
Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science &
Technology, Social Sciences and Sport. 

As the
region’s premier research academy, The UWI’s foremost objective
is driving the growth and development of the regional economy. Times
Higher Education
ranked The UWI among the top 1,258 universities in world for 2019,
and the 40 best universities in its Latin America Rankings for 2018
and 2019. The UWI was the only Caribbean-based university to make the
prestigious lists. For more, visit www.uwi.edu.

(Please
note that the proper name of the university is The University of the
West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)